Ballroom dancing on Aurora

[Manx mariner]

Hi. One month till our Cruise on Aurora to the W.Med. is there ballroom/ sequence dancing on board during the evening; Ideally to live music or recorded CDs as an alterative?:)

[Brayman]

Hi. One month till our Cruise on Aurora to the W.Med. is there ballroom/ sequence dancing on board during the evening; Ideally to live music or recorded CDs as an alterative?:)

 

There certainly was in July, both live and CD.

[Midsomer Madness]

We were very disappointed with the dancing on Aurora compared to the other ships...was very poor

[Brayman]

We were very disappointed with the dancing on Aurora compared to the other ships...was very poor

 

I did hear comments that the bands weren't very good, the dancers were happier when they played CDs.

[dgs1956]

I did hear comments that the bands weren't very good, the dancers were happier when they played CDs.

 

I don't know about Aurora band but we had one on Azura who had just met when they boarded and had difficulty with strict tempo and so were difficult to dance to.

[jeanlyon]

I just wish they didn't do this blasted sequence dancing all the time. My husband and I can do any ballroom dance and love to dance, but not this sequence stuff.

[dgs1956]

I just wish they didn't do this blasted sequence dancing all the time. My husband and I can do any ballroom dance and love to dance, but not this sequence stuff.

 

I do agree. As far as I know its supposed to be 50/50. A lot of people are learning Sequence now though. We've learnt about 8 of them now.

[jeanlyon]

We were on Balmoral in January, 3 dances out of 4 were sequence. It doesn't give anyone else a chance. And it's so awful to watch.

[kersh]

The main benefit of sequence is that on a small everyone is or at least should be doing the same steps at the same time and less risk of a collision.

 

We enjoy the ballroom dancing to a good band who can play strict tempo but unfortunately they are few and far between now on the P & O ships. Peters band on Azura were one of the best we have danced to but P & O cut backs meant they were too expensive.

 

We have learned a few sequence dances now so that we can join in.

[Prefdavid]

If sequence dancing is done well then it's not awful to watch and neither is it bad to do. You can still use proper technique although occasionally certain sequence dances have some unusual combinations so that they fit into the requisite 16 bars.

 

The idea is surely for everyone to have fun so a good mix of ballroom, latin and sequence should suit everyone.

 

There again ballroom and latin done badly is pretty awful to watch, just look at Strictly to get an idea of what that's like. ;)

[jeanlyon]

I think my point is that unless you have learnt sequence you can't join in. Whereas most people can do a quickstep or waltz, but won't get up and dance if it's sequence. the floor is completely taken up with the singles and the dance hosts.

[dgs1956]

If sequence dancing is done well then it's not awful to watch and neither is it bad to do. You can still use proper technique although occasionally certain sequence dances have some unusual combinations so that they fit into the requisite 16 bars.

 

The idea is surely for everyone to have fun so a good mix of ballroom, latin and sequence should suit everyone.

 

There again ballroom and latin done badly is pretty awful to watch, just look at Strictly to get an idea of what that's like. ;)

 

I tend to agree. The problem with Ballroom is people go charging about the floor weaving in and out with total disregard to the line of dance.

[Manx mariner]

Fellow cruisers. Thanks for your replies and much food for thought. The opportunity to enjoy dancing on board is a major factor in choosing a cruise. When learning to dance our teachers taught 'classic' sequence dances together with ballroom/Latin,mainly as locally the dominance is with sequence. So we were obliged to embrace "the Dark Arts" of dance. Certain sequence dances can look good and can be fun to dance which is what general social dancing should surely be all about?

[Midsomer Madness]

If we want to dance and enjoy it, we choose Cunard! Good band, very little sequence dancing and dancing in the ballroom every night...we can do sequence dances and usually brush up before a P&o cruise because, yes,they do tend to do quite a bit of it and sometimes the sequence dancers do take over...and often they do really obscure dances which only one or two couples know!

[jeanlyon]

I couldn't have put it better. Sequence Tango for instance bears no resemblance to a ballroom tango.

[Manx mariner]

I agree; Cunard superior for dancing but pending P&O cruise ticked the itinary box. Lovely experience last summer(2013) on board Queen Victoria to the Baltic; band comprised of a mixture of American/Candadian musicians with male vocalist from Detroit (Paul), ballroom dancing each and every evening. Approached vocalist when off stage to request anniversary waltz (our song). He stated that he could 'wing it' as it wasn't on the shedule, rushed back to his cabin to grab his score , returned and fulfilled request which had the desired outcome. Classic example of top notch service.

[Prefdavid]

I couldn't have put it better. Sequence Tango for instance bears no resemblance to a ballroom tango.

 

That's because most of the Sequence Tango's you see danced are Old Time, like Tango Sereda, so you rarely see the Ballroom Tango in a Sequence dance. However there are a number of them out there, just not widely known.